subtle|skz

-twenty-four-

SeungMin's POV

I groan as JeongIn locks his leg with mine. My eyes flutter open to reveal a nearly pitch black bedroom. The only source of light peers in from under the door. It looks as if someone has a lamp on—and only a lamp. I adjust my grip on JeongIn's waist and reach for my phone.

I check the time and turn my phone back over. I press my lips to JeongIn's temple. I lay there—just listening. All I can make out is faint whispers from the living room. It's either Chan and HyunJin or Felix and ChangBin. MinHo and JiSung wouldn't go into the living room—they have the most privacy out of all of us.

I glance over at Chan's bed to see if there's any sign of them. Shockingly, Chan lays dead asleep on his own. HyunJin is nowhere in sight—yet it looks like he had been there at one point. The blanket is pushed back and Chan's arm lays on the pillow as if someone had been sleeping on it.

I gently shift JeongIn off of me. He scrunches his nose up, but rolls onto his side without waking up. I delicately crawl toward the end of the bed and climb down. ChangBin's bed is empty. They're probably in the other room. I wonder if that's where HyunJin ended up, too. Maybe the voices are from the next room. It wouldn't be the first time someone left a light on in the living room.

I reach for the door and slowly open it. I step out and my eyes fall on HyunJin. He's curled up in a ball on the couch alone.

"Jinnie?" I mumble as I slowly make my way towards him.

He quickly lifts his head and rubs at his eyes. He sniffles before sitting upright. His gaze falls to his feet as I stand a few feet from him.

"What's wrong, Jinnie? Why aren't you sleeping? It's like four in the morning—even Chan's sleeping." The moment I say his name, HyunJin swallows hard. He instinctively reaches up to rub at his throat.

"I just couldn't sleep." HyunJin lies as he gets to his feet. He's trying to avoid talking about whatever is bothering him.

"Jinnie—talk to me. I won't tell anyone. Everyone else is asleep. It's just us two." I reassure him as I grab ahold of his wrist.

I'd gotten up to run to the bathroom, but he needs someone to talk to right now. I'm the only option. I'm willing to sit and listen, but it'll be pointless unless he wants to let me in.

"People are already talking. I sent a picture in Bubble earlier and they zoomed in on it and noticed a hickey on my shoulder. I didn't realize the collar of my shirt shifted and it was peeking out just a tiny bit. I didn't tell Chan. I was worried he'd get mad at me. Now—now I have this and I can't hide it. I can't cover it up. The stupid hickey I could've found a way to cover up. I could've came up with a story and insisted it was a bruise from something—my neck—I can't make up a story for that. What are Stay going to say? I can't just disappear for a week—maybe even longer. I just—I don't know what to do." HyunJin swallows hard as I lead him back toward the couch.

"Jinnie, Channie Hyung won't be mad at you. He can't be mad at you—he's the one who did it. You have every right to be worried, too. Stay will forget about it before you know it. If someone brings it up, say Bin bit you or something. It wouldn't be the first time. It'll all work out. I promise. Besides—your neck didn't end up getting worse. It's still actually fairly light. If we tried hard enough—I'm sure we could cover it up to the point it's barely noticeable. If we do that and you wear a hoodie it should help make it seem completely normal. The shadow from the hood will make it difficult to tell what's what." I insist as my eyes wander down to his delicate throat. It truly hasn't gotten any darker which is unusual. We all expected it to end up being really obvious, but it's honestly not that bad.